


Child of Gotham

by LiterallyThePresident



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Badass Robin, Family Dynamics, Fluff and Angst, Gotham fucks it’s heroes up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-08 15:03:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18625657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiterallyThePresident/pseuds/LiterallyThePresident
Summary: 5 times Robin’s Gotham-esque behavior spooked his teammates





	1. Ridiculous Pain Tolerance

**Author's Note:**

> Wanted to kinda write something for my first real fandom now that I’m back in the Loving Dick Grayson swing

The ropes were tight, so tight that even Cyborg’s impressive strength couldn’t break them. Their captors had thrown them into a cell with little ceremony, knowing they’d be unable to break their bindings while the newbie villain prepared his nefarious plans.

“Rob.” Cyborg muttered the moment they were alone, “Plan?”

“The team has no idea where we are.” Robin answered, hands working at his ropes, “We can’t wait for a rescue, we’ll have to break out on our own.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” he struggled vainly against his bonds to prove his point, “Rob, these guys are amateurs, but they got good stuff. Where did they even get material like this?”

“Somewhere very upsetting, I’m sure.” Robin’s brow was furrowed in concentration, and Cyborg heaved a sigh, resigned to waiting.

“I hope you have more of a plan than ‘cut the ropes over the course of hours with a fingernail’, because something tells me that ain’t gonna fly here.”

“Give me a second, Cy.” Robin muttered, fumbling with his bonds. Cyborg opened his mouth to give a witty retort, but it was at that moment that a loud crack cut through the air, and just like that, Robin was free. Wincing slightly, but free. Cyborg blinked, and then laughed, assuming he’d somehow broken the ropes.

“Whoah.” he grinned as Robin leapt up and made his way over to start working on his friend’s bindings, “Dude, I swear, I will never understand how you-“ the jovial smile faded slightly when he caught sight of the way Robin’s left hand dangled limply at his side, and the tightness around his mask that spoke of hidden pain. He stared at the appendage, finally noticing the way Robin was relying heavily on his right hand as he worked on freeing Cyborg.

“Dude.” he whispered, feeling a little sick. Robin spared him a glance. 

“Yeah?” he asked, his tone so casual one could almost believe he felt no pain. A rock settled in Cyborg’s stomach at his nonchalance, mind racing as he desperately hoped he was mistaken.

“Did they break your wrist?” he asked quietly, fear warring with an odd protectiveness in his mechanical heart. Robin shot him an unimpressed look, as if he was silently saying ‘come on, you know better.’

“No.” he answered calmly, “These guys know how to tie a knot, if even you couldn’t break free. I had to break my wrist to escape. Unless you _want_ to  get processed into organic goo by a mad villain wannabe?”

“Don’t _joke_ right  now, Robin, you broke your own damn wrist!?” he snapped, feeling ill, not understanding why Robin felt he’d needed to go that far. Robin raised an eyebrow like he didn’t understand Cyborg’s reaction, like he thought he was being childish.

“And? We had to escape somehow.” Robin said firmly, seeming unfazed by his now purple wrist, “If this is necessary to save you, so be it.”

“Rob, that’s insane!”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve had to resort to that.” he said a little huffily, “Cy, hold still, this is tricky with one hand.”

“And who’s fault is that!?” he demanded, trying very hard to hold back hysterics.

“I dunno, Batman? Gotham? Myself?” Robin shrugged with maddening apathy, letting out a soft sound of victory as Cyborg’s bindings finally fell away. Cyborg stood and immediately seized Robin’s forearm, pulling it close to examine the broken wrist with exceeding gentleness.

“It’s a clean break.” Robin rolled his eyes, “I can get it looked at back at the tower. We need to go.”

“How are you so calm about this?” Cyborg demanded, but Robin was unmoved. 

“I told you, I’m used to it.” he gently extracted himself from his friend’s grip, “Now let’s go.” And before Cyborg could protest, he was darting off down the hall, leaving Cyborg with a churning stomach and the memory of how fragile and small Robin’s arm had seemed in his large hands.


	2. Fight or Flight

Beast Boy stifled his giggles as he stealthily approached the couch where Robin sat. The Boy Wonder didn’t hear his approach, too involved in whatever file he was poring over with such intensity as to shut out his surroundings. Beast Boy grinned, taking those final few steps until he was within Scaring Range.

“Boo!” he shrieked suddenly, grabbing Robin’s shoulders with mischievous glee. Robin didn’t scream or jump, he just  _reacted_ . Within the span of two seconds, Beast Boy was pinned to the floor with a boot on his chest and a knife to his throat. He froze, petrified, his prey instinct reacting to the cold focus in Robin’s shrouded face. He struggled to speak, but the boot on his ribs choked his words before they could leave his lips. He realized distantly that he was shaking, that he was _afraid_ of _Robin_ . 

“Beast Boy!” Robin all but leapt off him once he realized who he was, eyes wide through his mask, “You _can't_ sneak  up on people like that, I could have killed you!”

“Dude!” Beast Boy exclaimed, jumping up and hiding behind the couch, peeking his head up just enough to see Robin, “You were gonna stab me!” He was definitely not trembling, not even a little. Because Robin wasn’t scary, no siree.

“It was instinctive, you startled me!” Robin defended, tucking the knife away into his belt, “Don’t do that!”

“Since when do you carry a  _knife_ !?” Beast Boy squawked. Robin looked at him like he was insane. 

“Are you telling me you  _don’t_ !?” he asked incredulously, “B, please tell me you’re joking.”

“I can turn into a feral cat! Or a boar!” Beast Boy exclaimed, “Why do I need a knife!?”

“In case something happens to your powers, you need a backup. Do you carry any secondary weapons at all?” At his reluctant silence, Robin’s face hardened, “Okay, that decides it. The entire team is getting blade training starting tomorrow.”

“Aw, come on.” he flopped onto the couch, still eying Robin warily, “Don’t you think that’s a little paranoid? I mean, we’re superheroes!”

“Paranoia is the reason I’m still alive.” he said calmly without a hint of jest, “Better to be too cautious than not cautious enough. Blade training. Seven am tomorrow. All hands.”

“But  _Robin_ .” he whined, but Robin wasn’t budging, something hard settling just behind his gaze. 

“Anyone who doesn’t report tomorrow gets dish duty for a month.” he said, his tone brooking no arguments, “Beast Boy, you didn’t even dodge just now. What if I had been aiming to kill? If I was less careful, you’d be bleeding out in the floor right now!”

“But you weren’t.” he huffed, crossing his arms. Robin glared.

“I won’t let my negligence in training you guys lead to tragedy. I’ve been too soft, too focused on team building. We start with knife training, then we move on to identifying and neutralizing toxins. Then basic acrobatics in case our flyers lose their flight ability.”

“That’s so-“

“And dodging. You’ll be singled out in that particular lesson, BB.”

“But-“

“No buts.” he sat back down on the couch and picked up the file, “I’ll write up a new training plan and send it to you all by Wednesday.”

Beast Boy groaned and buried his face in a pillow, resigning himself to his fate. Why of all leaders did they get saddled with the paranoid and obsessive one? Ugh!

(Not that he’d trade Robin for anyone, of course)

~~ Except maybe Aqualad ~~


	3. The Power of Incredible Violence

Starfire being captured was bad enough, but the look on Robin’s face when he stepped forward to confront the two goons holding her hostage had even her swallowing down a tinge of fear. The team was clearly worried, but they were making the effort to hold themselves back lest the goons make good on their word to cut her. Robin apparently had no such qualms. He stepped fearlessly forward until he was close enough for her to see the tension in his shoulders, the barely concealed rage in every careful movement. He was radiating fury, his visage so similar to his dark mentor in that moment that the goon holding her audibly gulped. 

“If you don’t let her go right. This. Minute.” Robin growled, his voice low and menacing in a way she had never heard before. It gave even Starfire the shivers, “I will make your deaths so painful, so hideously grotesque, that descriptions of it will be banned in all but the most savage and primal societies, do you understand me?” Starfire shivered despite herself, not liking this angry Robin. She wanted her kind and awkward friend back, she wanted to go home and hold her family, to wipe that look of fury away.

“Y-“ a goon miraculously mustered the courage to speak, “Y-You don’t sc... scare...” he trailed off as Robin unexpectedly smiled, toothy and downright cheerful, an unnerving change from the barely-concealed rage of a second ago. Starfire couldn’t see his eyes but she could tell just from the width of his smile that they were alight with murder.

“And you better hope she is _completely_ unscathed .” he chirped, his voice sickly sweet and dripping with venom, “Because if I find even a _scratch_ on  her, I’ll go after the people you love once I’m finished with you two.” Starfire gasped at that, but Robin continued, “You both have families, you both have loved ones. Everything that you love can be taken away so easily. Now tell me, is one-upping the Titans _really_ worth  their safety?”

“You wouldn’t d-dare!” the second goon shouted, visibly shaking now. Robin’s smile was colder than Europa’s north pole. Behind him, the team watched with varying degrees of unease and apprehension, unused to this menacing side of their leader and unsure if they should step in.

“Try me.” Robin murmured, cocking his head in a clear challenge, “I dare you. Go on, make my day.” The threat of violence was clear in his posture, his hands didn’t have to twitch for everyone to know that he was inches away from burying a birdarang in someone’s throat. He looked more like Batman than her wonderful Robin, and Starfire _hated_ it . 

It was a tense moment, but in the end the henchmen released Starfire like she’d burned them. A wise decision, one Robin rewarded them for by knocking them out without bloodshed. And if the team had a few nightmares afterwards heavily featuring Robin, they didn’t share it.


	4. Joker

Raven hadn’t wanted to delve into Robin’s memories, but she’d had little choice if she wanted to retrieve him from the comatose state Mad Mod had trapped him in. She rested her palm upon his forehead and closed her eyes, focusing on locating his mind and drawing him back to the waking world. His memories flitted past her, easy enough to ignore, simple to avoid out of respect for his privacy. Things were going well, Robin even shifting a little on his medical cot as if he were close to waking. 

A flash of light cut through the uniform lines of memory, a split second of searing agony, and then Raven’s world was white hot pain. 

She blacked out for a moment, but when she opened her eyes she was immediately assaulted on all sides, her senses nearly overloading with new and unfamiliar stimuli. The foul stench of blood and rot and the sound of wheezing, rattling breaths that almost seemed to be coming from her own chest. She was kneeling on the dirty floor of some kind of warehouse, panting for air and filled with the horrible sense that something was very wrong. A glance up sent her heart rocketing to her stomach with dread.

A pale man with a sickening red grin and wild yellow eyes looking down at her in savage glee. A bloodied baseball bat raised above his head, ready to swing yet again. He laughed and laughed and laughed as he brought it down again and again, crimson blood spattering the floor and staining the bat anew. She felt the blows but they were distant, like a dream, and the voice that cried out with each swing of the bat was not her own, but filled her with horror nonetheless. 

Robin’s voice was younger. Childlike. He was choking and spitting blood onto the filthy floor, his own knocked out teeth grinding under his palms as he struggled to stand up, to get away from the madman whom Robin’s memory supplied as  _Joker_ . But his legs were shattered, his mind foggy from the drugs the insidious madman had forced into him. And the Joker was far from done, if the flexing of his grip and wild expression of joy had any say.

“Oh, baby birdie.” the Joker sang, stroking Robin’s bloodied hair in a mockery of tenderness, “Batsy isn’t coming for you. You’re all  _mine_ .” And he aimed the next blow for Robin’s elbow. 

Horrified, sick, and utterly helpless, Raven gathered all her strength and wrenched herself away from Robin with a gasp, her legs failing her as she collapsed to the ground with a cry of anguish that brought the others running. Starfire crashed to her knees beside her, pulling her up and into her arms with a cry of worry. Beast Boy and Cyborg were talking, trying to ask if she was alright, if Robin was alright, but all Raven could see was the way the vision had been blurred with tears. 

She could still taste his blood. When the team asked what she’d seen, she just shook her head. 

It wasn’t her trauma to share.


	5. Reckless and Wild

“Now, Robin.” Slade droned, his voice sounding way too apathetic for the theatrics he so adored, “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t just kill your team and take you now?”

“You will _not_ have  him!” Starfire snarled, but was swiftly gagged by the robots holding her and the rest of the team hostage, an act that set Robin’s teeth on edge. But he forced himself to remain calm. He knew that the Titans could break out if they truly had to, but their fear for Robin’s safety kept them still. His back was to the edge of the skyscraper roof, and one wrong move, one order from Slade, would send him toppling to his death.

But that was okay. Perfect, actually. Because he had a plan.

“Because I’m about to give you a choice, Slade.” Robin took a step back, dangerously close to the edge. Slade cocked his head almost curiously, uncaring of the Titans glaring daggers at his back and sending worried glanced Robin’s way.

“Oh? And what choice would that be, little Robin?” Slade sounded almost amused. Robin leveled him with a steady look. 

“Let my team go,” he said, “or lose your ‘future apprentice’, and all the time and effort you poured into me.” He saw the dawning horror on the faces of his friends as he stretched his arms out as if to take flight, saw Raven’s face go somehow even paler, the first to realize his intention.

“Robin!  _No_ !” she cried, but Robin simply closed his eyes and leaned back. Slade realized his plan just a moment too late, and he darted forward with a low curse, but his grasping fingers just barely missed Robin’s collar.

Robin fell.

And he was _flying_ again . The air rushed past his face, blowing his hair and whipping his cape, gravity pulling him into its familiar embrace. He closed his eyes, unafraid, and enjoyed the wind. He’d missed the open air. Even falling to his very possible death, he was not worried. He had faith. And he had the sky.

He opened his eyes after several blissful moments, and was greeted with the sight of his team diving after him, no Slade in sight. He let himself laugh then, free and light as he was caught securely in Starfire’s strong arms. She clutched him close, her heart pounding and her eyes wide and glowing. Raven was close behind, carrying Cyborg. They wrapped him and Starfire up in their arms and slowed the descent until they were hovering above the city in the waning light of day. 

“What were you thinking!” Beast Boy demanded, having taken the form of, ironically, a robin, to land on his shoulder and squawk indignantly into his ear, “You could have died!”

“I was thinking I have nothing to worry about.” Robin grinned, wild and free and safe in the sky, “Because I knew my team would catch me.”

“That’s real touching and all but you jumped off a freaking skyscraper.” Cyborg said dryly, though his eyes shone with unshed tears, “You’re wild, Rob. Cut it out.”

“Never.” he grinned, “Hey, pizza night? On me?”

“How dare you tempt us with free pizza?” Beast Boy huffed, pecking his ear, “Fine. You better make up for scaring us like that. What if Slade had let you die?”

“I had a plan.” he winked, “But forget about Slade for tonight, alright? I know, I know, rich coming from me. But still. Pizza night.”

“Pizza night!” they all cheered, letting go just enough so they could all fly home, their unconventional leader safe and sound in their company.


End file.
